Moses is continuing to instruct Israel on how they are to live once they’ve entered the Land. He warns them to be mindful of the ungodly influences there which will seek to pull them away from the Lord. We also need to be aware of these same types of influences in our lives today which seek to destroy us spiritually.
1. False Teachers
Deut. 13:1-3a “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams”
2. Close relationships
V6-8 “If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him”
3. Worldly Influences which appeal to your flesh.
V12-14 “If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you”
LESSON - Once the Holy Spirit identifies these ungodly influencers in our lives, we should follow the pattern God gave to His people in the OT.
1. Remember that God is watching how we respond to these sinful influences in our lives.
V3b-5 “for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.”
2. We must “put off” or separate ourselves from these influences, to the point that they no longer hold ANY influence in our lives and homes.
V17 “And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;”
2. We must then “put on” the word of God with the intent of obeying it wholeheartedly.
V18 “When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.”
~Mike